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Hywel Dda adds its support to Global Human Rights Day

Hywel Dda University Health Board has joined over 160 organisations from across the UK to mark the 66th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

On global Human Rights Day (Wednesday 10 December), 163 organisations across the UK signed an open letter from the British Institute of Human Rights, published in
the Daily Telegraph, calling on “those with power to stand with us to respect human rights laws”.

Cllr Simon Hancock, Independent Board Member and Hywel Dda University Health
Board’s Equality and Diversity Champion, signed the letter on behalf of the University Health Board, joining others which represent people from across the UK including carers, older people, disabled people and children, professional bodies like the British Medical Association and RCN, and local councils and officials such as the Older
People’s Commissioner for Wales.

Cllr Hancock, said: “It is a core principle of the University Health Board that we
acknowledge, embrace and celebrate the diversity of our staff and service users and
welcome the skills and knowledge they bring. We believe that in order to meet
individual needs, improve services and facilitate equal outcomes for all, we must
listen to the comments and suggestions we receive from both staff and service users.
“It is an honour to have signed the British Institute of Human Rights’ Human Rights
Day Letter on behalf of Hywel Dda and as an organisation we must now heed its
message and reflect on the meaningful, often quiet, ways human rights make a
difference for people in their everyday lives.”

Stephen Bowen, Director of the British Institute of Human Rights, said: “Human
rights are the shared values of the whole human family. As people across the world
celebrate the 66th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we
should remember this is the inspiration for the European Convention on Human
Rights and our own Human Rights Act.

“We hope those with power will see what we see: how our human rights laws are a
vital safety net for us all, delivering on the ancient promise of Magna Carta to make
sure that even the Government has to play by the rules. As we approach the 800th
anniversary of Magna Carta, now is the time to champion the legal protection of
human rights here at home.”